The offshore drilling industry and the technology associated with it have developed rapidly in the last twenty years. The drilling rigs in use today have evolved into sophisticated structures, designed and built to withstand the severest of environmental conditions and to operate in very deep waters. Advanced computer technology has contributed substantially to bring platform development to its present position. Computers are integral, for example, to the collection and evaluation of geological and seismic date, to the operation of dynamically positioned platforms, and to methods of well control.
In spite of the advanced state of technology, accidents requiring evacuation from drilling platforms still occur. Such accidents may include, for example, fire on board. In addition to this type of accident, environmental conditions off certain coasts, such as off Eastern Canada, are especially severe with extremes of wind and wave, and a frequency of storms above that found in other areas. Both accidents and weather conditions may necessitate evacuation of the platform. Such occurences have in recent years lead to loss of life by virtue of the inadequacies of the evacuation systems.
Unfortunately, evacuation systems and the component parts of those systems have not kept pace with the rapid development of technology in the platform itself. There are currently, in particular, shortcomings in all three major components of evacuation. These components are the mustering and boarding procedure, the launch and the removal of the survival craft from the area of the platform. As a result, there is a critical need for a safe means of evacuation of a drilling platform in last resort situations.